“Fantastic Beasts, The Secrets of Dumbledore,” had a slow start in its first weekend at U.S. and Canadian theatres. According to studio estimates, the third installment of the Harry Potter spinoff made $43 million in North America.
The film remained at the top of the box office charts for a while, but it was not enough. The debut of the first film was $74.4 million in 2016, while “The Crimes of Grindelwald”, which opened to $62.2million in 2018, had a debut of $72.2 million. Warner Bros. also released “The Secrets of Dumbledore” in 4,208 North American locations. The production cost was $200 million.
It is more common for sequels and thirdquels to be lower than their predecessors. However, “Dumbledore” also follows several franchise titles, including “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” and “Venom 2”.
The film received a 49% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Most critics were not impressed. Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer, wrote in his review , that “the purpose these movies have never felt like anything beyond keeping the Potter train rolling” and that “Dumbledore” is “a bit boring.” However, audiences, 56% of whom were female, gave it four stars on PostTrak, and a B+ CinemaScore.
The eight Harry Potter films brought in more than $7.7 billion, while the first two Fantastic Beasts films earned $1.5 billion.
The film stars Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law as well as Ezra Miller, Mads Mikkelsen and Ezra Miller, who replace Johnny Depp’s role of Grindelwald. After Depp’s unsuccessful libel suit against The Sun tabloid newspaper over an article that called him a “wifebeater”, , the actor stated that Warner Bros. had asked him to resign and that he accepted.
However, unlike previous “Fantastic Beasts”, “Dumbledore”, has more potential for international success. Its worldwide gross revenues are $193 millions. The international distributions of both films contributed more than 70% to their worldwide totals.
Paul Dergarabedian is the senior media analyst at Comscore. He stated that “recapturing the original Harry Potter magic that began around 20 years ago in cinemas” is a difficult task. “The ‘Fantastic Beasts franchise is seeing declining returns with each subsequent installment but still has enough fanbase to generate respectable numbers, especially with international audiences, which have always provided the largest share of box office for these films.”
Dergarabedian stated that “Dumbledore’ will face its true test on the second weekend.
As Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ head of domestic distribution, noted, the films are only one part of the Wizarding World.
It’s part of a larger strategy for Wizarding World. This includes stores, theme parks, and merchandising. It’s about the whole package and not each individual piece,” Goldstein stated. “There is still a lot public interest and fan interest.”
Warner Bros. also celebrated a major milestone: “The Batman”, which reached $750 million worldwide, was released this weekend.
Goldstein stated, “It’s an incredible achievement.”
According to Paramount, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”, which fell 58% in its second weekend, earned $30 million to place second. To date, the film has earned $119.6 millions. Paramount also took third place with “The Lost City”, an action-adventure starring Sandra Bullock & Channing Tatum.
On Wednesday, “Father Stu”, a Sony film, was also released in 2,705 locations. Mark Wahlberg stars in “Father Stu”, which was funded by Sony. It is a true story that is rare for mainstream Hollywood movies with religious themes. It made $8 million in its first five theater days and earned $5.7 million over the weekend.
“Father Stu”, A24’s stealth hit that keeps growing, came in fifth place. The buzzy interdimensional film starring Michelle Yeoh was released on 2,220 screens this weekend, making it the biggest release to date. It also earned $6.2 million. The film’s total gross is $17.7million.
According to Comscore, Friday through Sunday ticket sales were estimated at U.S. theaters and Canadian theatres. Monday will see the release of final domestic figures.
1. “Fantastic Beasts – The Secrets of Dumbledore”, $43 million
2. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” $30 Million
3. “The Lost City”, $6.5 Million
4. “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, $6.2 Million
5. “Father Stu,” $5.7 million.
6. “Morbius,” $4.7 million.
7. “Ambulance,” $4 million.
8. “The Batman,” $3.8 million.
9. “K.G.F. “K.G.F. Chapter 2,” $2.9 Million
10. “Uncharted,” $1.2 million.
